Podcasts about Mount Lebanon

5-6-25 - Tonight we're talking with Alen RadoŠević with Fool Moon Meadery in Romania. Alen makes excellent mead and has a meadery that sells in Romania only (for now). Alen is owner and meadmaker at FoolMoon Transilvania - Romania. Alen is Certified through the Level 2 Mead Judging Program at the European Mead Makers Association. He is also winner of gold and silver medals at the 2025 Mead Madness CUP (MMC). Alen is relatively new to mead, but it hasn't slowed him down at all. He's been making mead since 2020, and has a long family tradition of making wine and rakija. Somewhere in 2020, Alen switched from sourdough to mead because he wanted to feed his sourdough with honey. There was a small experimental batch and it grew into passion. Fool Moon opened in 2023, but didn't go public until 2024, after wending their way through a mess of paperwork in Romania. I got to meet him and sample his mead, and hang out at the Copa Hidromiel 2024 in Mexico City, where he nabbed a couple medals. Join us to talk mead with Alen! To listen live, you can find us on Youtube, Twitch, X (Twitter), and Facebook on the Gotmead Page. On our new platform, chat is part of the podcast! Just comment from wherever you are watching, and we'll see it!! If you'd like to call in, we can get you a link to come on! Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/meadwench YouTube: YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/@Gotmead X(Twitter): https://x.com/RealGotMead Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GotMead Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/GotMead Sponsor: Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees.  Go to honnibrook.com for review our tap list, upcoming events and to order online! From July 23-August 2, 2025, take a magical meadery tour, and step into the heart of Central Europe on a journey that blends history, culture, and craft in three remarkable capitals — Prague, Bratislava, and Warsaw. Explore vibrant cityscapes and quiet countryside, from medieval old towns and historic abbeys to family-run meaderies and world-renowned breweries. You will visit the Mead Museum in Prague, Strahov Monastery Brewery, Pilsner Urquell Brewery, Apimed Mead, Branislav Novosedlík Mead, Richtár Jakub Brewery, Pasieka Jaros Mead, Corpo Mead, and Apis Mead. This tour is limited to 25 people, reserve your spot now at europeandiscoveriesllc.com/tours/250723cmm  If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT (United States) Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows May 20 - Joe Marshall - Lily Belle Meads, Buffalo, NY June 3 - Brian Green - Centeur Imports - mead importers Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events May 8 - Kingview Mead, Mt. Lebanon, PA - Day One acoustic music May 9 - Apis Mead and Winery, Carnegie, PA - Vinyl Rewind live music May 10 - Mr. B's Meadery, Seattle, WA - Charcuterie Making Workshop at Mr. B's White Center May 15 - Nucleus Mead, Lineville, PA - Mead and Read event - bring a book and find new reads May 17 - Sugarbelt Mead Festival, Crown Pointe, IN - Many meaderies with their wares at this festival - live music, food trucks and more! May 17 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - JJ playing live music May 18 - Perry Vine, South Bend, IN - Brews and Bites: Five Course, Small Bites and Mead Pairing May 21 - Kingview Mead, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night May 22 - The Skeptic Meadery, Mount Juliet, TN - Mead Making 101 May 23 - Grimsby Hollow Meadery, Middleville, MI - Dungeons and Dragons Mead Up

Z pensylvánského Pittsburghu do Washingtonu D. C., Chicaga či k jezeru Erie... jen kratičkými zastávkami procestovala východní část USA studentka Blanka Žíhová, hostka cestovatelského magazínu Za obzor.

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Send us a textIn this episode, Ricardo Karam sits down with Ghada Aoun, a Lebanese judge who has been at the forefront of the judicial scene with her bold anti-corruption stances. Since her appointment as Mount Lebanon prosecutor in 2017 and till her retirement recently, she has had thorny legal confrontations against powerful figures, making her a symbol of justice for some and a subject of fierce controversy for others. Born in Damour, Aoun studied law and psychology before beginning her career in the judiciary. She is best known for her investigations into money laundering and banking corruption, bringing cases against prominent figures such as Najib Mikati and Riad Salameh, defying political and judicial pressure. Her most notable case was the raid on the Mecattaf money transfer company, which sparked a sharp division in legal and political circles. But her battle against corruption did not go without repercussion, as she was even dismissed from her post, a move that her supporters saw as a political target, while her opponents saw it as a result of her legal transgressions. Join Ricardo Karam for an in-depth conversation with Ghada Aoun as she tells her story, reveals the challenges she has faced, and talks about her vision for the future of Lebanon's judiciary. في هذه الحلقة، يلتقي ريكاردو كرم مع غادة عون، القاضية اللبنانية التي تصدّرت المشهد القضائي بمواقفها الجريئة في مكافحة الفساد. منذ تعيينها مدعيّة عامة لجبل لبنان عام 2017 وحتى تقاعدها مؤخراً، خاضت مواجهات قانونية شائكة ضد شخصيات نافذة، مما جعلها رمزًا للعدالة بالنسبة للبعض، وموضع جدل حادّ بالنسبة لآخرين. وُلدت غادة عون في الدامور، ودرست القانون وعلم النفس قبل أن تبدأ مسيرتها في سلك القضاء. اشتهرت بتحقيقاتها في قضايا غسل الأموال والفساد المصرفي، حيث رفعت دعاوى ضد شخصيات بارزة مثل نجيب ميقاتي ورياض سلامة، متحدية الضغوط السياسية والقضائية. أبرز ملفاتها كانت مداهمة شركة مكتف لتحويل الأموال، والتي أثارت انقسامًا حادًا في الأوساط القانونية والسياسية. لكن معركتها ضد الفساد لم تمرّ دون تداعيات، إذ صدر قرار بإقالتها من منصبها، في خطوة اعتبرها أنصارها استهدافاً سياسياً، بينما رأى خصومها أنها نتيجة لتجاوزاتها القانونية. استأنفت عون القرار، مما أوقف تنفيذه، تاركة الباب مفتوحًا أمام مزيد من الجدل حول استقلالية القضاء في لبنان. انضموا إلى ريكاردو كرم في هذا الحوار العميق مع غادة عون، حيث تروي قصتها، تكشف عن التحديات التي واجهتها، وتتحدث عن رؤيتها لمستقبل القضاء في لبنان.

12-3-24 We are headed for the warmer climes down in Mexico today for our last show of the year. We'll be talking with Alberto Leyva, owner of Hidromiel Aliens Kaab in Bacalar, Mexico. Alberto has been a Beekeeper in the Riviera Maya, Bacalar, Quintana Roo since 2013,  and founded of Aliens Kaab in 2019. His expertise ranges from hive management to the fermentation of artisanal mead, ensuring a product that embodies the richness of local honey. Alberto is passionate about fermentation processes and wild yeasts, and crafts his mead through cold and wild fermentation, which in his point of view results in unique flavors and aromas while making the mead gentler on the body. His goal is to reflect the natural wealth of our surroundings in every bottle. Alberto has won some medals and recognitions and considers himself an eternal learner. The motto at Aliens Kaab is "let yourself be abducted by new experiences", and they take the term abduct as arousing in someone a powerful attraction and that is what they are looking for, to abduct more people to discover this great world of Mead. Join us to hear more about Alberto and his mead making adventures! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees.  Go to honnibrook.com for review our tap list, upcoming events and to order online! If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT (United States) Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows On break for the month of December, we're back in January!! Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Dec 4 - Kingview Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night Dec 7 - Honeytree Meadery, Nashville, TN - Mead Making Classes Dec 7 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Emma Nobbe Rocks the House live music Dec 7 - Honey & Hops Breworks, Fredricksburg, VA - Winter Wine Festival Dec 8 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - Tasting with the Meadmakers Dec 10 - Oppegaard Meadery, Tukwila, WA - Trivia Night Dec 12 - KingView Mead, Mount Lebanon, PA - Good Brother Earl live music Dec 12 - Oppegaard Meadery, Tukwila, WA - Mead and Cheese pairing Dec 13 - Blom Mead + Cider, Ann Arbor, MI - Permanent Jewelry with BOGO deal for multiple chains! Dec 14 - Crafted Artisan Winery, Mogadore, OH - Mead 101 Class Dec 18 - Kingview Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night Dec 20 - Valkyries Horn Mead Competition Entries open! Dec 20 - Midwinter Homebrew Competition Entries open! Dec 20 - Apis Mead and Winery, Carnegie, PA - Springs and Arrows live music Dec 21 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Blight of Many live music Dec 21 - Mjodgard, Haslev, Denmark - Celebrate the Winter Solstice with a 2 course dinner, mead and a solstice ceremony Jan 25 - Crafted Artisan Winery, Mogadore, OH - Mead 101 Class Feb 6 - Mjodgard, Haslev, Denmark - Mead and Food Pairing at Bregnen You can buy mead online at https://shopmeads.com

It's such a beautiful letter. So, moving and touching. With a deep desire for so much forgiveness. Paul writes with such passion and love that he would even pay the debt in the place of the sinner. He told Philemon, “If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me” (18). Yes, like I said at the beginning, this is such a tender letter of love and a desire for reconciliation that both Philemon and Onesimus would fight for the family. How can I say anything more than that? Our pastoral hearts beat with a desire that confessions would be made, forgiveness would be given, and God's people would be restored to one another. How sweet would that be for our family here at Mount Lebanon and beyond if we would “fight for the family” and live together like this? How sweet would this be for our families at home and at work if we would “fight for the family?” If we would confess our sins to another when we have sinned against them? If we would forgive their sins when they have sinned against us (even if they don't confess)? What would that say to the community around us if we were known as the church that “fights for the family?” What if we were known as the church that, in love, confronts sin in others and among us – and then forgave it!?! What if we were known as the church that lives together like this? Oh, dear people of God, “Refresh my heart in Christ” and let's live together in love like this. A sermon on Philemon.

11-5-24 We are abandoning the election stuff (in the US) tonight, and visiting with Raul de la Garza, owner of Freya Brewing Company in Monterrey, Mexico. Raul is also a guest host here on Gotmead Live! We got the chance to hang out with him when Kevin and Vicky went to the Copa Hidromiel mead competition in Mexico City. Raúl de la Garza, meadmaker at Freya Brewing in Monterrey, Mexico started making mead as a hobby in 2008 and later went professional in 2015. Over the years Raul has won several awards (including best in Mexico) in Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica and Panama. They've sold mead all over Mexico and even in San Diego (crossing it through the border the Han Solo way). After a break thanks to COVID-19, they're trying to make a comeback with plans to relocate the meadery and open a taproom. This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees.  Go to honnibrook.com for review our tap list, upcoming events and to order online! If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT (United States) Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows November 19 - Kristeva Dowling, Stolen Harvest Meadery, Alberta, Canada December 3 - Alberto Leyva, Hidromiel Aliens Kaab, Mexico Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Nov 6 - Kingview Meadhouse & Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night Nov 7 - KingView Mead, Mount Lebanon, PA - Day One (acoustic) live music Nov 7 - The Viking Alchemist Meadery, Smyrna, GA - Mead and Minis Two for One - Painting D&D Miniatures Nov 8 - Adesanya Mead & Microbrewery, Grandville, MI - TYFYS (Thank You For Your Service) Mead Release with Talons Out Honor Flight and Mosher Family Apiary Nov 9 - Dawg Gone Bees Apiary & Meadery, Hanover, PA - Mead Making Class Nov 9 - The Viking Alchemist Meadery, Smyrna, GA - Mead and Metal Artisan Market Nov 10 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - Tasting with the Meadmakers Nov 12 - Oppegaard Meadery, Tukwila, WA - Make Your Own Mead with Us! Nov 13 - Adesanya Mead & Microbrewery, Grandville, MI - West Michigan Pink Boots Society Chapter November Meet-Up Nov 14 - Apis Mead & Winery, Carnegie, PA - Thursday South Hills Group Run Nov 15 - Grimsby Hollow Meadery, Middleville, MI - Drink Mead, Learn Things: Viking Warrior Societies Nov 15 - Bumbling Fools Mead, Minneapolis, MN - Karaoke Mead-Up Nov 16 - Crafted Artisan Winery, Mogadore, OH - Mead 101 Class Nov 16 - Cigar City Cider & Mead, Tampa, FL - Celebrating 10 Year of Cigar City Cider and Mead Nov 16 - Kimmel Orchard, Nebraska City, NE - Mead Making Workshop Nov 16 - Dawg Gone Bees Apiary & Meadery, Hanover, PA - Mead Making Class Nov 17 - Oppegaard Meadery, Tukwila, WA - 8th Year Anniversary and Sea Wolf Voyages Mead Release Party Nov 22 - Oppegaard Meadery, Tukwila, WA - Make Your Own Mead with Us! Nov 23 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Veronica Live Nov 23 - Red Lion Smokehouse, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada - Meadmaking with TBay Mead Nov 27 - The Cellar Wine Bar and Kitchen, South Bend, IN - Perry Vine Wine Mead Tasting Nov 29 - Dawg Gone Bees Apiary & Meadery, Hanover, PA - Mead Making Class Dec 8 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - Tasting with the Meadmakers Dec 14 - Crafted Artisan Winery, Mogadore, OH - Mead 101 Class You can buy mead online at https://shopmeads.com

*) Israeli genocide part of displacement plan: Gaza The Media Office in Gaza has said that the Israeli army is intensifying its military actions in northern Gaza, particularly in the Jabalia refugee camp. According to the office, since the ground offensive and complete siege began on October 6, "massacres and deliberate killings" have taken place, resulting in significant civilian casualties in the camp. The office also reported that Israeli forces are preventing rescue teams from retrieving over 75 bodies from the 285 people killed during the ground assault. *) Israel kills 15 people, wounds scores in Lebanon Israel has killed at least 15 people in its strikes in northern and central Lebanon on Saturday. The first strike targeted an apartment in a residential building in the town of Barja in the central area of the country, killing four people and wounding 14 others. The second strike hit a home in the town of Maaysrah in Mount Lebanon, killing nine and wounding 15. *) US 'responsible' for Gaza genocide: Palestine presidency Palestine has called on the US to stop supporting Israel and force it to end its aggression and comply with international resolutions. In a statement the Palestinian Presidency said that the US administration must force its strategic ally, Israel, to stop its aggression in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and adhere to international legitimacy resolutions and international court rulings. *) Deadly tribal clashes erupt in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa At least 11 people were killed and eight others injured in renewed clashes between local tribes in northwestern Pakistan. Officials confirmed the clashes and said the local administration is trying to control the situation. According to local people, women and children were also among the victims as tribesmen fired at vehicles on roads. *) EU, China fail to bridge gap on electric vehicle tariff solution The latest negotiations over European Union tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles ended in Brussels with "major differences" remaining. Brussels has decided to impose new tariffs of up to 35.3 percent on imports of Chinese-made electric cars. Representatives from Beijing and the 27-member bloc have held eight rounds of talks in Brussels since September 20 but failed to reach a consensus.

There are 18 recognised religious "sects" in Lebanon, including various Christian denominations, Shia and Sunni Muslims, the Druze and Jews. Sects in this context does not refer to a kind of cult but rather different religious groupings. How is it that such a diverse religious and ethnic mix of people came to live in so close proximity to each other in and around Mount Lebanon? And why did the French colonial authorities decide to organise their mandate in Lebanon by dividing the country across "sectarian" lines?Find out in part one of a two-part series for Kalam Shorts about sectarianism in Lebanon, available exclusively for our Patreon subscribers. Sign up at patreon.com/kalampodcast for just $3/month. For continuous updates on the podcast and content about Palestine and the Middle East, follow us on Instagram @kalampodcast Please subscribe to Kalam Podcast in whatever podcast application you're listening to right now - and give us a rating. It helps other people find out about us.

10-8-24 Tonight we're talking with Dominic Roth, a relatively new meadmaker in Australia. Dominic feels he's 'new' in that he thinks there is much more he can learn about making mead. We'll be talking technique, styles, recipes and more! Dominic is a home mead maker in Australia. He started making mead a couple years ago, as a replacement hobby following the birth of his most recent child. A dodgy mead recipe in a cookbook led him to the hobby, and then to more reliable sources! He thoroughly enjoys the 'art and science of mead making'; consuming as much knowledge as possible on the craft, and playing around with different styles, techniques and ingredients. This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees.  Go to honnibrook.com for review our tap list, upcoming events and to order online! If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows October 22 - Alberto Leyva - Aliens Kaab Mead November 5 - Kristeva Dowling, Stolen Harvest Meadery November 19 - Raul de la Garza - Freya Mead Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Oct 11 - Breeden's Orchard, Mount Juliet, TN - Charcuterie, Mead and Music with Graze Craze Oct 11 - Thistlerock Mead Co,, Charlottesville, VA - Conley Ray and the Joneses live music Oct 12 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - Mead Making 101 Oct 12 - Dawg Gone Bees Apiary and Meadery, Hanover, PA - Mead Making class Oct 13 - Skal Beer Hall, Seattle, WA - Fall Mead Festival Oc 16 - KingView Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night Oct 17 - Combgrown Mead, Auburn, NY - Mead and Whiskey Cocktail Class with Cellar and Folly Whiskey Company Oct 18 - Apis Mead & Winery, Carnegie, PA - 732 the Electric Duo & Mary Spayd-Armstrong live music Oct 19 - Iron Stone Meadery, Erie, PA - Mead and Bleed Craft Fair and Bleeding Disorder Fundraiser Oct 19 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Blight of Many live music - the Halloween Show! Oct 25 - Windchaser Meadery, Williamsburg, VA - HallowMead Oct 27 - St. Ambrose Cellars, Beulah, MI - HallowCHEESE: A Mead and Cheese Pairing Event with the Cheese Lady Nov 2 - Amber Dragon Meadery, Abilene, TX - Meadfest 2024 Nov 2 - MeadKrieger, Loveland, CO - The Sogs live music Nov 2 - Honeytree Meadery, Nashville, TN - Mead Making class Nov 6 - KingView Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night Nov 7 - KingView Meadhouse & Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Day One acoustic music Nov 8 - Adesanya Mead & Microbrewery, Grandville, MI - TYFYS (Thank You For Your Service) Mead Release with Talohns Out Honor Flight and Mosher Family Apiary You can buy mead online at https://shopmeads.com If you want to get your event on GotMead Live, let us know at gotmead@Gotmead.com 

In this SAND Community Gathering (September 2024) Zaya and Maurizio sat down with Jess Semaan, poet, psychotherapist and facilitator to explore the intersection of poetry and grief in the context of genocide. They drew from her research on genocide, as well as her personal and professional experiences, Jess tended to our psycho-spiritual profound sorrow and loss in this time. By giving voice to the unspeakable and providing a means of bearing witness to the stories of those impacted by the trauma of large-scale atrocities, we are making space for individual and collective healing. Poetry helps us navigate the complex terrain of grief, injustice, and human suffering. Come and honor the resilience of communities that have endured such immense trauma. Jess Semaan is a queer Lebanese poet, psychotherapist, group facilitator and speaker. She researches, writes and speaks on subjects of healing from complex trauma, immigration, war and belonging. Her first poetry book Child of the Moon was published by Andrews McMeel and sold over 14,000 copies. Her second book Your Therapist is Depressed Too came out in December 2023. She immigrated to the United States from Beirut. She has an MBA from Stanford and an M.A. in counseling Psychology from CIIS. She identifies as SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa), with grandparents from Syria, Palestine and Mount Lebanon and resides on Ohlone land (Oakland, California), with her partner Berk and their two cats. Topics: 00:00 – Introduction and Greetings 00:43 – Special Guest: Jess Semaan 00:56 – Reflecting on Recent Screenings 02:12 – Jess Semaan's Background and Work 03:03 – Poetry Reading: Let Gaza In 06:26 – Technical Difficulties and Reflections 07:56 – Discussing Genocide and Dehumanization 09:05 – Personal Journey and Psychological Insights 11:11 – The Complexity of Beirut 12:59 – The Psychological Impact of Diaspora 15:51 – Research on Genocide and Human Cruelty 26:46 – Poetry Reading: Is it a Massacre if it's a Palestinian? 28:51 – Healing Workshop and Collective Trauma 30:13 – Understanding My Mother's Trauma 31:51 – The Collective and Individual Psyche 34:07 – Critical Thinking and Cultural Differences 36:04 – The Role of Bystanders in Conflict 43:24 – Grieving Amidst Ongoing Conflict 51:29 – Poetry of Resistance and Grief 57:31 – Closing Reflections Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

8-27-24 Tonight at 9PM ET we will be talking with Matthew Chrispen, with the Texas Mead Association and Texas Mead Cup, and we're doing a live demo of the BJCP Mead Exam tasting, and will be talking about getting certified and things to be aware of. Matt started brewing in November 2009 after a gift of Mr. Beer from a buddy and got hooked. He started blogging at Accidentalis.com a year later, focusing more as a journal focusing on personal progress, homebrewing perspectives, the Brew-Magic, Grainfather, and how Brew-Easy gear setups, and brewing water chemistry how-to's. IHestarted making mead in 2014, under the guidance of members of the Austin Zealots and immediately found success with a medal at his first NHC. 2015 was the year Matt started helping with NHC First Round here in Austin, and he passed the original Mead Examination (written and tasting together) with the help of classes with Eric Lowe and Mike Simmons. As he honed his mead-making, he had a little success at various competitions, including The Mazer Cup and the old Masters of Homebrewing Competition. A few years ago, he made BJCP National and has been grading since. After a short stint at Meridian Hive as GM during Covid and the great Texas Ice Storm, Matt has refocused on mead making and working with the Texas Mead Association and Texas Mead Cup to increase mead awareness and qualify mead judges in Texas.He is passionate about writing high-quality scoresheets and providing helpful feedback. Join us to chat with Matt! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees.  Go to honnibrook.com for review our tap list, upcoming events and to order online! If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows Sept 10 - Copa Hidromiel competition in Mexico with Vicky and Kevin Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events May 1 - Sept 1 - Copa Hidromiel Mexico Competition Registration - get your entries in now, Copa Hidromiel is offering an entry discount of Aug 28 - Oppegaard Meadery, Seattle, WA - Paint and Sip Class Aug 30 - Adesanya Meadery, Grandville, MI - August Rendezvous Aug 30 - Apis Wine and Meadery, Carnegie, PA - 732 the Electric Duo Live Aug 30 - Lancaster Homebrew, Lancaster, PA - Mead Making Class Aug 31 - Black Mountain Cider and Mead, Black Mountain, NC - 11th Anniversary Celebration Sept 4 - Kingview Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night Sept 7 - Dawg Gone Bees Meadery and Apiary, Hanover, PA - Mead Making Class Sept 7 - Honeytree Meadery, Nashville, TN - Mead Making Class Sept 12 - Kingview Mead, Mount Lebanon, PA - One Ray Live Sept 14 - Maniacal Meadery, Ypsilanti, MI - Annie's Experimental Mead Release Sept 19 - Bumbling Fool Meadery, Minneapolis, MN - Charcuterie Design and Trivia Sept 20 - Green River Bee Company, Hendersonville, NC - Mead Making Class Sept 21 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Blight of Many Live Sept 21 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - Meadfest SCA Mead Demo Sept 27 - Standard Meadery, Villa Park, IL - Makers and Mead Friday Fall Market Sept 10-12 Copa Hidromiel, Mexico City - international mead competition for home and commercial mead You can buy mead online at https://shopmeads.com If you want to get your event on GotMead Live,

8-13-24 Tonight we're talking with Kyle Ducharme in Vermont. Kyle has been doing a lot of mead making classes and education and helping more people with the love of mead. Kyle Ducharme is from Northern Vermont and is a home mead maker that has experience with quality assurance positions in the food and beverage industries. He has been making mead since the fall of 2019, really diving deep during the pandemic. He originally learned from podcasts/youtubers such as Gotmead, The Mead House, Doin the Most, and Man Made Mead. He later joined his homebrew club where he discovered some other mead makers, but mainly beer brewers and judges. He was motivated by the online community to enter competitions and after winning some medals, he entered more competitions to get feedback and improve his skills. That was a valuable step, but becoming a beer and mead judge was really what made him grow exponentially in his mead making. By traveling to learn from others and to judge meads, he could bring that knowledge to others in his homebrew club and online communities. Outside of competing and judging comps, he has started a mead class and small Iron Bee style mead competition to share knowledge/feedback with others. His major goal is to create another major mead competition in New England and to bring up the homebrew mead scene in the area. He is passionate about using foraged ingredients and fruit from local farmers and utilizing honey from all over the world. His parents own a small hop yard and that is what got him initially interested in fermentation. Join us to chat with Kyle! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Look no further than Honnibrook Craft Meadery in Castle Rock, Colorado, for your go-to destination for wonderful, light, and refreshing mead! We have 20 meads on tap and four seasonal mead slushees.  Go to honnibrook.com for review our tap list, upcoming events and to order online! If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows Aug 27 - Matthew Chrispin - Live BJCP mead exam mead evaluation and discussion of BJCP certification Sept 10 - Copa Hidromiel competition in Mexico with Vicky and Kevin Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events May 1 - Sept 1 - Copa Hidromiel Mexico Competition Registration Aug 14 - Queen Bee Brews, Denver, CO - Magic and Mead Aug 14 - St. Ambrose Cellars, Beulah, MI - Bill Frary live music Aug 15 - Barcade, Detroit, MI - Mead-evil Madness! Aug 17 - Zymarium Meadery, Orlando, FL - First Bee-Day! Aug 17 - McAlpine Meadery, Beach City, OH - Oddmall: Mead and Feed Aug 17 - Apis Wine and Mead, Carnegie, PA - Live Music with Push Aug 17 - Etowah Meadery and Dahlonega Brewery, Dahlonega, GA - Sourwood Honey Extraction on National Honey Bee Day! Aug 18 - St. Ambrose Cellars, Beulah, MI - Honey Bee Market Aug 18 - Skäl Beer Hall, Seattle, WA - Viking Faire Aug 19 - Bardic Wells Meadery, Montague, MI - ModPoge Mixed Media art and Mead Aug 21 - Kingview Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night! Aug 22 - Thistlerock Mead Company, Charlottesville, VA - Tacos and Mead Aug 23 - St. Ambrose Cellars, Beulah, MI - Delilah DeWylde Live music Aug 24 - DMen Tap, Chicago, IL - Mead Fest 2024 Aug 24 - Haley's Honey Wine and Mead, Fredericksburg, VA - Mead and Read Aug 24 - Dawg Gone Bees Apiary and Meadery, Hanover, PA - Mead Making Class Aug 28 - Oppegaard Meadery, Seattle, WA - Paint and Sip Class Aug 30 - Adesanya Meadery,

Resources: Philos Project - website Novena for Peace -website Finding Peace in the Storm - Dan Burke Into the Deep – Dan Burke Spiritual Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits - Dan Burke The Contemplative Rosary - Dan Burke and Connie Rossini The Contemplative Rosary App (phones and tablets only) A Catholic Guide to Mindfulness - Susan Brinkmann OCDS Avila-Institute.org/events - website Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation EWTN Religious Catalogue – online

Join Dan and Stephanie Burke as they talk with Simone Rizkallah and Andrew Doran about the unrest in the Middle East and how we can join together in a novena to pray for peace!

Join Dan and Stephanie Burke as they talk with Simone Rizkallah and Andrew Doran about the unrest in the Middle East and how we can join together in a novena to pray for peace!

The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Destruction of the Old Ottoman World (Basic Book, 2024) recreates one of the watershed moments in the history of the Middle East: the ferocious outbreaks of disorder across the Levant in 1860 which resulted in the massacre of thousands of Christians in Damascus. Eugene Rogan brilliantly recreates the lost world of the Middle East under Ottoman rule. The once mighty empire was under pressure from global economic change and European imperial expansion. Reforms in the mid-nineteenth century raised tensions across the empire, nowhere more so than in Damascus. A multifarious city linked by caravan trade to Baghdad, the Mediterranean and Mecca, the chaos of languages, customs and beliefs made Damascus a warily tolerant place. Until the reforms began to advantage the minority Christian community at the expense of the Muslim majority. But in 1860 people who had generally lived side by side for generations became bitter enemies as news of civil war in Mount Lebanon arrived in the city. Under the threat of a French expeditionary force, the Ottomans dealt with the disaster effectively and ruthlessly - but the old, generally quite tolerant Damascene world lay in ruins. It would take a quarter of a century to restore stability and prosperity to the Syrian capital. This is both an essential book for understanding the emergence of the modern Middle East from the destruction of the old Ottoman world, and a uniquely gripping story. Eugene Rogan is author of the bestselling The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East, 1914-1920. He is professor of modern Middle Eastern history at the University of Oxford and Director of the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Destruction of the Old Ottoman World (Basic Book, 2024) recreates one of the watershed moments in the history of the Middle East: the ferocious outbreaks of disorder across the Levant in 1860 which resulted in the massacre of thousands of Christians in Damascus. Eugene Rogan brilliantly recreates the lost world of the Middle East under Ottoman rule. The once mighty empire was under pressure from global economic change and European imperial expansion. Reforms in the mid-nineteenth century raised tensions across the empire, nowhere more so than in Damascus. A multifarious city linked by caravan trade to Baghdad, the Mediterranean and Mecca, the chaos of languages, customs and beliefs made Damascus a warily tolerant place. Until the reforms began to advantage the minority Christian community at the expense of the Muslim majority. But in 1860 people who had generally lived side by side for generations became bitter enemies as news of civil war in Mount Lebanon arrived in the city. Under the threat of a French expeditionary force, the Ottomans dealt with the disaster effectively and ruthlessly - but the old, generally quite tolerant Damascene world lay in ruins. It would take a quarter of a century to restore stability and prosperity to the Syrian capital. This is both an essential book for understanding the emergence of the modern Middle East from the destruction of the old Ottoman world, and a uniquely gripping story. Eugene Rogan is author of the bestselling The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East, 1914-1920. He is professor of modern Middle Eastern history at the University of Oxford and Director of the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Destruction of the Old Ottoman World (Basic Book, 2024) recreates one of the watershed moments in the history of the Middle East: the ferocious outbreaks of disorder across the Levant in 1860 which resulted in the massacre of thousands of Christians in Damascus. Eugene Rogan brilliantly recreates the lost world of the Middle East under Ottoman rule. The once mighty empire was under pressure from global economic change and European imperial expansion. Reforms in the mid-nineteenth century raised tensions across the empire, nowhere more so than in Damascus. A multifarious city linked by caravan trade to Baghdad, the Mediterranean and Mecca, the chaos of languages, customs and beliefs made Damascus a warily tolerant place. Until the reforms began to advantage the minority Christian community at the expense of the Muslim majority. But in 1860 people who had generally lived side by side for generations became bitter enemies as news of civil war in Mount Lebanon arrived in the city. Under the threat of a French expeditionary force, the Ottomans dealt with the disaster effectively and ruthlessly - but the old, generally quite tolerant Damascene world lay in ruins. It would take a quarter of a century to restore stability and prosperity to the Syrian capital. This is both an essential book for understanding the emergence of the modern Middle East from the destruction of the old Ottoman world, and a uniquely gripping story. Eugene Rogan is author of the bestselling The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East, 1914-1920. He is professor of modern Middle Eastern history at the University of Oxford and Director of the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/military-history

The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Destruction of the Old Ottoman World (Basic Book, 2024) recreates one of the watershed moments in the history of the Middle East: the ferocious outbreaks of disorder across the Levant in 1860 which resulted in the massacre of thousands of Christians in Damascus. Eugene Rogan brilliantly recreates the lost world of the Middle East under Ottoman rule. The once mighty empire was under pressure from global economic change and European imperial expansion. Reforms in the mid-nineteenth century raised tensions across the empire, nowhere more so than in Damascus. A multifarious city linked by caravan trade to Baghdad, the Mediterranean and Mecca, the chaos of languages, customs and beliefs made Damascus a warily tolerant place. Until the reforms began to advantage the minority Christian community at the expense of the Muslim majority. But in 1860 people who had generally lived side by side for generations became bitter enemies as news of civil war in Mount Lebanon arrived in the city. Under the threat of a French expeditionary force, the Ottomans dealt with the disaster effectively and ruthlessly - but the old, generally quite tolerant Damascene world lay in ruins. It would take a quarter of a century to restore stability and prosperity to the Syrian capital. This is both an essential book for understanding the emergence of the modern Middle East from the destruction of the old Ottoman world, and a uniquely gripping story. Eugene Rogan is author of the bestselling The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East, 1914-1920. He is professor of modern Middle Eastern history at the University of Oxford and Director of the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/islamic-studies

The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Destruction of the Old Ottoman World (Basic Book, 2024) recreates one of the watershed moments in the history of the Middle East: the ferocious outbreaks of disorder across the Levant in 1860 which resulted in the massacre of thousands of Christians in Damascus. Eugene Rogan brilliantly recreates the lost world of the Middle East under Ottoman rule. The once mighty empire was under pressure from global economic change and European imperial expansion. Reforms in the mid-nineteenth century raised tensions across the empire, nowhere more so than in Damascus. A multifarious city linked by caravan trade to Baghdad, the Mediterranean and Mecca, the chaos of languages, customs and beliefs made Damascus a warily tolerant place. Until the reforms began to advantage the minority Christian community at the expense of the Muslim majority. But in 1860 people who had generally lived side by side for generations became bitter enemies as news of civil war in Mount Lebanon arrived in the city. Under the threat of a French expeditionary force, the Ottomans dealt with the disaster effectively and ruthlessly - but the old, generally quite tolerant Damascene world lay in ruins. It would take a quarter of a century to restore stability and prosperity to the Syrian capital. This is both an essential book for understanding the emergence of the modern Middle East from the destruction of the old Ottoman world, and a uniquely gripping story. Eugene Rogan is author of the bestselling The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East, 1914-1920. He is professor of modern Middle Eastern history at the University of Oxford and Director of the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Destruction of the Old Ottoman World (Basic Book, 2024) recreates one of the watershed moments in the history of the Middle East: the ferocious outbreaks of disorder across the Levant in 1860 which resulted in the massacre of thousands of Christians in Damascus. Eugene Rogan brilliantly recreates the lost world of the Middle East under Ottoman rule. The once mighty empire was under pressure from global economic change and European imperial expansion. Reforms in the mid-nineteenth century raised tensions across the empire, nowhere more so than in Damascus. A multifarious city linked by caravan trade to Baghdad, the Mediterranean and Mecca, the chaos of languages, customs and beliefs made Damascus a warily tolerant place. Until the reforms began to advantage the minority Christian community at the expense of the Muslim majority. But in 1860 people who had generally lived side by side for generations became bitter enemies as news of civil war in Mount Lebanon arrived in the city. Under the threat of a French expeditionary force, the Ottomans dealt with the disaster effectively and ruthlessly - but the old, generally quite tolerant Damascene world lay in ruins. It would take a quarter of a century to restore stability and prosperity to the Syrian capital. This is both an essential book for understanding the emergence of the modern Middle East from the destruction of the old Ottoman world, and a uniquely gripping story. Eugene Rogan is author of the bestselling The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East, 1914-1920. He is professor of modern Middle Eastern history at the University of Oxford and Director of the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/genocide-studies

The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Destruction of the Old Ottoman World (Basic Book, 2024) recreates one of the watershed moments in the history of the Middle East: the ferocious outbreaks of disorder across the Levant in 1860 which resulted in the massacre of thousands of Christians in Damascus. Eugene Rogan brilliantly recreates the lost world of the Middle East under Ottoman rule. The once mighty empire was under pressure from global economic change and European imperial expansion. Reforms in the mid-nineteenth century raised tensions across the empire, nowhere more so than in Damascus. A multifarious city linked by caravan trade to Baghdad, the Mediterranean and Mecca, the chaos of languages, customs and beliefs made Damascus a warily tolerant place. Until the reforms began to advantage the minority Christian community at the expense of the Muslim majority. But in 1860 people who had generally lived side by side for generations became bitter enemies as news of civil war in Mount Lebanon arrived in the city. Under the threat of a French expeditionary force, the Ottomans dealt with the disaster effectively and ruthlessly - but the old, generally quite tolerant Damascene world lay in ruins. It would take a quarter of a century to restore stability and prosperity to the Syrian capital. This is both an essential book for understanding the emergence of the modern Middle East from the destruction of the old Ottoman world, and a uniquely gripping story. Eugene Rogan is author of the bestselling The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East, 1914-1920. He is professor of modern Middle Eastern history at the University of Oxford and Director of the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

“God is love” (1 John 4:10). Love is not just part of what God does. It is who God is at his very core. It is his essence. But how do we know? He showed his love among us by giving his Son (1 John 4:9)— Jesus, who is God in the flesh. We might say then that Jesus is “love with skin on.” He makes God known by putting on human flesh, wearing skin, and becoming fully human. The same might also be said about you and me. We are the body of Christ, the visible representation of Jesus in the world. Yes, just as much as Jesus is “love with skin on” so are we. As we finish our look at John's first letter, we want to shift our focus outward to those who do not yet know Jesus. What letter can we write with our words and actions so that others can have the same confidence in Christ that we have? Our welcome to those who are guests at Mount Lebanon is one way that we can be “love with skin on.” Our life in the world is another way. What does our letter say? What does our life show? God showed us his love by putting skin on it. May he help us do the same!

At 2 PM on July 9, 1860, a mob attacked the Christian quarter of Damascus. For over a week, shops, churches, houses, and monasteries were attacked, looted, and burned. Men were killed, women raped and abducted, children taken from their families. Some 5000 Christians were ultimately killed, about half of them refugees who had fled to the city from Mount Lebanon during an earlier outbreak of violence there, the others all native Damascenes—about 15% of the Christian population of Damascus. These eight days of terror became known as “the Damascus events.” In his new book my guest Eugene Rogan describes the external and internal pressures which led to the Damascus events; the immediate precipitation of the events; the eight days of violence; how the violence was ended; and finally how the Christian population was reintegrated into the Damascus community. Eugene Rogan is professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at the University of Oxford, where he is also the Director of the Middle East Center at Saint Anthony College, Oxford. Author of numerous books, his most recent is The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Making of the Modern Middle East. For Further Investigation We haven't had that many podcasts on the Ottoman Empire: in fact, hitherto we have had precisely one, a conversation with Kaya Şahín in Episode 314 about Suleyman, one of the greatest Ottoman monarchs. We haven't had that many podcasts on the modern Middle East, either. The closest would be one of the most popular podcasts we've done, this conversation with the late Neil Faulkner in Episode 240, which dealt with the British Empire's attempts to cope with revolutionary Islamic movements in late nineteenth century Africa and Arabia.  

The iconic city of Pittsburgh, PA has been on James' radar for a long time. After years of flying into PGH just to jump in a rental car and cross the Ohio border to visit his hometown, he'd had the itch to actually SPEND SOME TIME in the Steel City. But the minute we arrived, Denise was feeling a bit underwhelmed… traffic, rain and buildings everywhere seemed a little oppressive for what she's looking for in a community. From navigating through the city's famous bridges and tunnels to indulging in local delicacies like pierogies at Pierogies Plus and sandwiches at Primanti Bros, this is our unpolished Steel City experience. We discuss Pittsburgh's unique neighborhoods, such as Lawrenceville and Mount Lebanon, and learn about the city's sports culture (#gosteelers), museums, and celebrity connections.

Tonight we're talking with Bryce and Savannah, husband and wife owners of Fox and Raven Meadery in Carollton, Texas. Fox & Raven Mead is Savannah and Bryce, a husband and wife team, creating Meads inspired by the stories that enchant them. They met at a movie theater eighteen years ago where they worked (mainly for the perk of free movies). They are self proclaimed Bibliophies, cinephiles and just all around big nerds. Bryce initially began homebrewing beer as a hobby but switched to Mead making due to a lack of availability of mead in his area. He's been making Mead for about 9 years now. Savannah is a graphic design school dropout and artist. She mostly handles marketing and design but also has a hand in helping craft flavor profiles as well. Bryce and Savannah are committed to never releasing a mead that they would not be happy to drink themselves. With a focus on balanced flavors, their mead tends to stay on the dry to semi-sweet side. Designwise, each mead label is designed to look like a comic book, book cover, or movie poster to tie back to their love of storytelling, Currently, the meadery is a production only with no taproom but you can find Fox & Raven out at several local markets as well as special events from time to time. Their Mead has also found their way into a few local breweries and bottle shops with more to come soon. Come hang out with us as we talk mead with Bryce and Savannah! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster!  Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors!  www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Monin liqeuer concentrates Upcoming Events April 10 - Green Mountain Mashers, Essex Junction, VT - Mead Class - Specialty Meads taught by Kyle Ducharme April 12 - Grimsby Hollow Meadery, Middleville, MI - Dungeons and Dragons Meadup April 13 - Mead Judging Programme Level 1 and Level 2 in Olsztyn, Poland by Mate Blasczyk and the Mead Judging Programme April 13 - Grimsby Hollow Meadery, Middleville, MI - Drink Mead, Learn Things: Hearth Broom Making Workshop April 13 - Bumbling Fools Meadery, Minneapolis, MN - Meadiversary - One Year April 13 - Creative Art Center, Battle Lake, MN - Mead Making class - make a Joe's Ancient Orange April 13 - Maniacal Mead Company, Ypsilanti, MI - Kristal Palace electronic music event April 13 - Mead Judging Programme, Olsztyn, Poland - Mead Judging Programme Level 1 and Level 2 April 14 - ARTifice Ales and Mead, Manheim, PA - Terrarium Workshop with Cottage and Vine April 14 - Ivy League Brew, Alabaster, AL - Mead Talk April 20 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - 4th Annual Sigurblot Viking Festival April 21 - Oppegaard Meadery, Seattle, WA - A Great Shenanigan of Mead, Violence, Music, Art and Feast! April 23 - What's Brewing Supply, Palatine, IL - Mead Making Class April 25 - Kingsview Mead, Mount Lebanon, PA - One Ray Live April 25 - Liquid Alchemy Mead, Wilmington, DE - Mead Cocktail class April 26 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Fry Project Live Music April 27 - Grimsby Hollow Meadery, Middleville, MI - Drink Mead, Learn Things - Tree of Life Wreath Workshop April 27 - Kingview Mead,

3-26-21 Tonight we're talking with Bray Denard, creator of the BOMM, Bray's One Month Mead. Bray Denard, PhD is the inventor of Bray's One Month Mead (aka “the BOMM”), one of the more popular mead styles among home mead makers. Bray has continued to refine his methods over the years to create a never fail nutrient protocol that works with any yeast! In addition, Bray continues to provide mead making knowledge through consulting and OmniMead. OmniMead provides a free Mead Making Course as well as recipes and calculators for mead makers. Check it out: https://www.omnimead.com Constantly aspiring for better mead, he eternally experiments with new nutrients, spices, fruits and wood types. As a result, he is in the process of writing a world inspired mead making book complete with food pairings! Join us tonight at 9PM EDT to talk mead shop with Bray! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster!  Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors!  www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Monin liqeuer concentrates Omnimead - https://www.omnimead.com Upcoming Events Mar 28 - Kingview Mead, Lebanon, PA - Live music with the Mingo Creek Trio Mar 30 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Emma Nobbe Live Music April 5 - Kingview Mead, Lebanon, PA - Live Music with Jim and Scott April 10 - Green Mountain Mashers, Essex Junction, VT - Mead Class - Specialty Meads taught by Kyle Ducharme April 13 - Mead Judging Programme Level 1 and Level 2 in Olsztyn, Poland by Mate Blasczyk and the Mead Judging Programme April 13 - Grimsby Hollow Meadery, Middleville, MI - Drink Mead, Learn Things: Hearth Broom Making Workshop April 14 - ARTifice Ales and Mead, Manheim, PA - Terrarium Workshop with Cottage and Vine April 21 - Oppegaard Meadery, Seattle, WA - A Great Shenanigan of Mead, Violence, Music, Art and Feast! April 23 - What's Brewing Supply, Palatine, IL - Mead Making Class April 25 - Kingsview Mead, Mount Lebanon, PA - One Ray Live April 26 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - Fry Project Live Music You can buy mead online at https://shopmeads.com If you want to get your event on GotMead Live, let us know at gotmead@Gotmead.com 

Nehemiah asked for a report, but then he went to see for himself what was going on and how things were going. He did it when no one else was looking or watching. He investigated, and then he gave his report to the people of Israel, to those who had returned from exile. We have a report to make to you about the life and health of Mount Lebanon. There is a report to be given to you about the life you get to live for God. There is a report to be given and a report to be heard. Then, after we've heard the report – what are we going to do about it? What will you do about it in your life of following Jesus? What will we do as we pursue a mission with him? We'll be looking at Nehemiah 2.

12-5-23 Tonight on GotMead Live at 9PM EST we're talking with Brian Galbreath, owner of Unpossible Meadery in Dwight, IL, just off Route 66. Brian started fermenting ciders and then mead in 2013. Pete Bakulic told him to focus on traditionals when he got started. [break]Brian went on to take a Mazer Cup win with his Montmorency Barrel Aged Mead, where he won the 2016 Home Mead Competition in the experimental mead category. Now his commercial meads are still taking awards in competitions. Unpossible Mead is located in Dwight, IL (which is about 80 miles southwest of Chicago).  Just having celebrated 5 years, Brian Galbreath and his small crew are looking forward to many more years of making session, varietal trads, and running their barrel program. Join us on the live chat and don't be afraid to call in if you want to! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster!  Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors!  www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows December 5 - Brian Galbreath, Unpossible Mead Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Dec 6 - Oppegaard Meadery, Tukwila, WA - Mead and Cheese and Cheese and Mead pairings Dec 6 - Kingview Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night Dec 7 - Manaical Mead Co, Ypsilanti Township, MI - Thorsday, bring your viking horns Dec 7 - Starrlight Mead, Pittsboro, NC - Mead Club Party - Ben's 60th Birthday Bash Dec 8-10 -  Honeygirl Meadery, Durham, NC - Mead and Macaron tasting Dec 9 - Apis Mead and Winery, Carnegie, PA - Decemberfest Party with 732 The Electric Duo - live music Dec 9 - Four Brothers Mead, Festus, MO - John Jarrett live music Dec 14 - KingView Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Day One acoustic music Dec 16 - KingView Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Ugly Sweater Party Dec 17 - KingView Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Chocolate Dip and Sip You can buy mead online at https://shopmeads.com If you want to get your event on GotMead Live, let us know at gotmead@Gotmead.com 

Tonight at 9PM ET we'll be talking with Tom Repas. Tom has been on the show before, and we're having him back, as he's an absolute fountain of information! And he makes 'ok' mead. We're going to delve into the bees and their care. What you may not be aware of is that a year ago, Tom started making his 'ok' meads professionally. Apiflora Mead, made and available at Zymurcracy Beer Company in Rapid City, South Dakota. Apiflora is rapidly approaching the anniversary and December mead releases. Tom is a Master Beekeeper and owner of Canyon Rim Honey Bees, providing bees and honey in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Tom speaks on beekeeping all over the country, and has presented several times at the AMMA MeadCon on both beekeeping and meadmaking. Tom has won a large number of awards for his mead as well. Tom is a 4th generation beekeeper, and has been working with bees since he was a kid. He kept bees and sold the honey for extra money in high school. He went into professional beekeeping while he was still active as a medical doctor, and has developed a cross for bees that are gentle, overwinter well, and are mite resistant. On the mead side of things, Tom is a very talented mead maker who consistently wins medals with his meads, and has a skill for thinking outside the box for flavor profiles. His mushroom mead was the talk of the mead community for some time when he brought it out to taste. I got to try it, I was stunned at how good it was. Of course, Tom uses his own honey, as well as honeys from other providers and areas, and they're all good! Tom says his meads are 'ok'. We think they're better than that, lol. Join us on the live chat and don't be afraid to call in if you want to! This player will show the most recent show, and when we're live, will play the live feed. If you are calling in, please turn off the player sound, so we don't get feedback.[break] [break]Click here to see a playable list of all our episodes! Sponsor: Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster!  Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors!  www.honnibrook.com If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @realGotMead and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Upcoming Shows December 5 - Brian Galbreath, Unpossible Mead Show links and notes Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff Upcoming Events Nov 22 - ARTifice Ales and Mead, Manheim, PA - Comedy Brews Nov 24 - Maniacal Mead Co, Ypsilanti Township, MI - Black Friday Bottle Release, Serpent's Deed, 14% apple pie inspired mead Nov 24-25 - Scale and Feather Meadery, Avondale, AZ - Mead-ieval Market - Black Friday Nov 25 - Hive Mind Mead/Wye Valley Meadery, Caldicot, UK - Groove Jackes LIVE at Wye Valley Meadery and food by Hungry Monkey Nov 25 - Triaxial Meadsmiths, Lake Orion, MI - Small Business Saturday - 10% off your entire bill Nov 25 - White Winter Mead, Iron River, WI - Holiday Open House Nov 25 - Wye Valley Meadery, Caldicot, UK - Groove Jacks Live Dec 2 - Grimsby Hollow Meadery, Middleville, MI - Drink Mead, Learn Things: Whisk-Broom Making Workshop Dec 6 - Oppegaard Meadery, Tukwila, WA - Mead and Cheese and Cheese and Mead pairings Dec 6 - Kingview Meadhouse and Winery, Mount Lebanon, PA - Trivia Night Dec 7 - Manaical Mead Co, Ypsilanti Township, MI - Thorsday, bring your viking horns Dec 8-10 -  Honeygirl Meadery, Durham, NC - Mead and Macaron tasting Dec 9 - Apis Mead and Winery, Carnegie, PA - 732 The Electric Duo - live music

Psalms and Wisdom: Song of Solomon 2:8–17 Song of Solomon 2:8–17 (Listen) The Bride Adores Her Beloved 8   The voice of my beloved!    Behold, he comes,  leaping over the mountains,    bounding over the hills.9   My beloved is like a gazelle    or a young stag.  Behold, there he stands    behind our wall,  gazing through the windows,    looking through the lattice.10   My beloved speaks and says to me:  “Arise, my love, my beautiful one,    and come away,11   for behold, the winter is past;    the rain is over and gone.12   The flowers appear on the earth,    the time of singing1 has come,  and the voice of the turtledove    is heard in our land.13   The fig tree ripens its figs,    and the vines are in blossom;    they give forth fragrance.  Arise, my love, my beautiful one,    and come away.14   O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,    in the crannies of the cliff,  let me see your face,    let me hear your voice,  for your voice is sweet,    and your face is lovely.15   Catch the foxes2 for us,    the little foxes  that spoil the vineyards,    for our vineyards are in blossom.” 16   My beloved is mine, and I am his;    he grazes3 among the lilies.17   Until the day breathes    and the shadows flee,  turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle    or a young stag on cleft mountains.4 Footnotes [1] 2:12 Or pruning [2] 2:15 Or jackals [3] 2:16 Or he pastures his flock [4] 2:17 Or mountains of Bether (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Judges 2–3:6 Judges 2–3:6 (Listen) Israel's Disobedience 2 Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? 3 So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” 4 As soon as the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 And they called the name of that place Bochim.1 And they sacrificed there to the LORD. The Death of Joshua 6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. 7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years. 9 And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel. Israel's Unfaithfulness 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. 13 They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. The Lord Raises Up Judges 16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so. 18 Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. 20 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, 22 in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not.” 23 So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua. 3 Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods. Footnotes [1] 2:5 Bochim means weepers (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jeremiah 18 Jeremiah 18 (Listen) The Potter and the Clay 18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear1 my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.' 12 “But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.' 13   “Therefore thus says the LORD:  Ask among the nations,    Who has heard the like of this?  The virgin Israel    has done a very horrible thing.14   Does the snow of Lebanon leave    the crags of Sirion?2  Do the mountain waters run dry,3    the cold flowing streams?15   But my people have forgotten me;    they make offerings to false gods;  they made them stumble in their ways,    in the ancient roads,  and to walk into side roads,    not the highway,16   making their land a horror,    a thing to be hissed at forever.  Everyone who passes by it is horrified    and shakes his head.17   Like the east wind I will scatter them    before the enemy.  I will show them my back, not my face,    in the day of their calamity.” 18 Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.” 19   Hear me, O LORD,    and listen to the voice of my adversaries.20   Should good be repaid with evil?    Yet they have dug a pit for my life.  Remember how I stood before you    to speak good for them,    to turn away your wrath from them.21   Therefore deliver up their children to famine;    give them over to the power of the sword;  let their wives become childless and widowed.    May their men meet death by pestilence,    their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.22   May a cry be heard from their houses,    when you bring the plunderer suddenly upon them!  For they have dug a pit to take me    and laid snares for my feet.23   Yet you, O LORD, know    all their plotting to kill me.  Forgive not their iniquity,    nor blot out their sin from your sight.  Let them be overthrown before you;    deal with them in the time of your anger. Footnotes [1] 18:2 Or will cause you to hear [2] 18:14 Hebrew of the field [3] 18:14 Hebrew Are foreign waters plucked up (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Hebrews 1 Hebrews 1 (Listen) The Supremacy of God's Son 1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,   “You are my Son,    today I have begotten you”? Or again,   “I will be to him a father,    and he shall be to me a son”? 6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,   “Let all God's angels worship him.” 7 Of the angels he says,   “He makes his angels winds,    and his ministers a flame of fire.” 8 But of the Son he says,   “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,    the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.9   You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;  therefore God, your God, has anointed you    with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” 10 And,   “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,    and the heavens are the work of your hands;11   they will perish, but you remain;    they will all wear out like a garment,12   like a robe you will roll them up,    like a garment they will be changed.1  But you are the same,    and your years will have no end.” 13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,   “Sit at my right hand    until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Footnotes [1] 1:12 Some manuscripts omit like a garment (ESV)

With family: Judges 3; Acts 7 Judges 3 (Listen) 3 Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods. Othniel 7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. Ehud 12 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. 14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit1 in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. 20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch2 and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them. 24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” 25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor. 26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years. Shamgar 31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel. Footnotes [1] 3:16 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [2] 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain (ESV) Acts 7 (Listen) Stephen's Speech 7 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.' 4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. 7 ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,' said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.' 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. 9 “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. 14 And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. 15 And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, 16 and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. 17 “But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. 19 He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. 20 At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, 21 and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. 23 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?' 27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' 29 At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. 30 “Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.' And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.' 35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?'—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.' 38 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' 41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:   “‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,    during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?43   You took up the tent of Moloch    and the star of your god Rephan,    the images that you made to worship;  and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.' 44 “Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.1 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, 49   “‘Heaven is my throne,    and the earth is my footstool.  What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,    or what is the place of my rest?50   Did not my hand make all these things?' 51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” The Stoning of Stephen 54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together2 at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Footnotes [1] 7:46 Some manuscripts for the house of Jacob [2] 7:57 Or rushed with one mind (ESV) In private: Jeremiah 16; Mark 2 Jeremiah 16 (Listen) Famine, Sword, and Death 16 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. 3 For thus says the LORD concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land: 4 They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth. 5 “For thus says the LORD: Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament or grieve for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, my steadfast love and mercy, declares the LORD. 6 Both great and small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or cut himself or make himself bald for them. 7 No one shall break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead, nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother. 8 You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. 9 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will silence in this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. 10 “And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?' 11 then you shall say to them: ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the LORD, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, 12 and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. 13 Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.' The Lord Will Restore Israel 14 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 15 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers. 16 “Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the LORD, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. 17 For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. 18 But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.” 19   O LORD, my strength and my stronghold,    my refuge in the day of trouble,  to you shall the nations come    from the ends of the earth and say:  “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies,    worthless things in which there is no profit.20   Can man make for himself gods?    Such are not gods!” 21 “Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the LORD.” (ESV) Mark 2 (Listen) Jesus Heals a Paralytic 2 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk'? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” Jesus Calls Levi 13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of1 the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat2 with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” A Question About Fasting 18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”3 Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath 23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of4 Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” Footnotes [1] 2:16 Some manuscripts and [2] 2:16 Some manuscripts add and drink [3] 2:22 Some manuscripts omit But new wine is for fresh wineskins [4] 2:26 Or in the passage about (ESV)

Michelle Keserwany joined us on Movie Night to talk about her and her sister Noel's short film Les Chenilles. We dive into the 3.5 day filmmaking process, the inspiration behind it and the colonial impact of the silk industry. Michelle also shares her journey into film, why she doesn't completely consider herself a musician, and her top films of note. And of course, we listen to her and Noel's viral songs Jagal El Usel and Men3id w Men3id. Michelle Keserwany is a Lebanese singer, musician and scriptwriter. She's well known for the songs that she composes and performs alongside her sister Noel. Their lyrics are notable for their incisive satire and criticism of the state of Lebanese society. Les Chenilles: Short Film:‘Les Chenilles' is a short film that follows two women, Asma and Sarah, from the Levant working at the same restaurant in Lyon, France. The film unpicks the colonial legacy of the Silk Road which links both Asma and Sarah to their homeland, exploring themes of exploitation, female solidarity, friendship, and the myriad experiences of forced migration. The inspiration of this story was triggered by an article by Fawwaz Traboulsi called “ Un Amour de Soie” (Beirut-Express - 1996) that explores the relationship between women from Mount Lebanon and foreign silk factories in the 19th century.Created & hosted by Mikey Muhanna, afikra Edited by: Ramzi RammanTheme music by: Tarek Yamani https://www.instagram.com/tarek_yamani/About Movie Night: Movie Night is an interview series that calls for afikra community members who are interested in movies and films to spend time watching along with the entire community. Movies will be announced on afikra's watching list. This interview series will host filmmakers and actors who are featured in the announced movie. Community members will be asked to watch the film on online streaming platforms or online film festivals before the series and join the conversation with the creators of the film. Movie Night is an opportunity for members to ask questions about the plot, behind the scenes, themes, and information about the movie.Following the interview, there is a moderated town-hall-style Q&A with questions coming from the live virtual audience ‎on Zoom.‎ Join the live audience: https://www.afikra.com/rsvp   FollowYoutube - Instagram (@afikra_) - Facebook - Twitter Support www.afikra.com/supportAbout afikra:‎afikra is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region- past, present, and future - through conversations driven by curiosity. Read more about us on  afikra.com

Old Testament: Judges 2–3 Judges 2–3 (Listen) Israel's Disobedience 2 Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? 3 So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” 4 As soon as the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 And they called the name of that place Bochim.1 And they sacrificed there to the LORD. The Death of Joshua 6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. 7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years. 9 And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel. Israel's Unfaithfulness 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. 13 They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. The Lord Raises Up Judges 16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so. 18 Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. 20 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, 22 in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not.” 23 So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua. 3 Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods. Othniel 7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. Ehud 12 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. 14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit2 in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. 20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch3 and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them. 24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” 25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor. 26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years. Shamgar 31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel. Footnotes [1] 2:5 Bochim means weepers [2] 3:16 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [3] 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 107:1–22 Psalm 107:1–22 (Listen) Book Five Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So 107   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,    for his steadfast love endures forever!2   Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,    whom he has redeemed from trouble13   and gathered in from the lands,    from the east and from the west,    from the north and from the south. 4   Some wandered in desert wastes,    finding no way to a city to dwell in;5   hungry and thirsty,    their soul fainted within them.6   Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,    and he delivered them from their distress.7   He led them by a straight way    till they reached a city to dwell in.8   Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,    for his wondrous works to the children of man!9   For he satisfies the longing soul,    and the hungry soul he fills with good things. 10   Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,    prisoners in affliction and in irons,11   for they had rebelled against the words of God,    and spurned the counsel of the Most High.12   So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;    they fell down, with none to help.13   Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,    and he delivered them from their distress.14   He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,    and burst their bonds apart.15   Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,    for his wondrous works to the children of man!16   For he shatters the doors of bronze    and cuts in two the bars of iron. 17   Some were fools through their sinful ways,    and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;18   they loathed any kind of food,    and they drew near to the gates of death.19   Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,    and he delivered them from their distress.20   He sent out his word and healed them,    and delivered them from their destruction.21   Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,    for his wondrous works to the children of man!22   And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,    and tell of his deeds in songs of joy! Footnotes [1] 107:2 Or from the hand of the foe (ESV) New Testament: Romans 8 Romans 8 (Listen) Life in the Spirit 8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.1 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you2 free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,3 he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus4 from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. Heirs with Christ 12 So then, brothers,5 we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons6 of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Future Glory 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because7 the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,8 for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. God's Everlasting Love 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be9 against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.10 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,   “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Footnotes [1] 8:1 Some manuscripts add who walk not according to the flesh (but according to the Spirit) [2] 8:2 Some manuscripts me [3] 8:3 Or and as a sin offering [4] 8:11 Some manuscripts lack Jesus [5] 8:12 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 29 [6] 8:14 See discussion on “sons” in the Preface [7] 8:27 Or that [8] 8:28 Some manuscripts God works all things together for good, or God works in all things for the good [9] 8:31 Or who is [10] 8:34 Or Is it Christ Jesus who died . . . for us? (ESV)

Old Testament: Judges 2–3 Judges 2–3 (Listen) Israel's Disobedience 2 Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? 3 So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” 4 As soon as the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 And they called the name of that place Bochim.1 And they sacrificed there to the LORD. The Death of Joshua 6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. 7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years. 9 And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel. Israel's Unfaithfulness 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. 13 They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. The Lord Raises Up Judges 16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so. 18 Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. 20 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, 22 in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not.” 23 So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua. 3 Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods. Othniel 7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. Ehud 12 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. 14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit2 in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. 20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch3 and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them. 24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” 25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor. 26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years. Shamgar 31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel. Footnotes [1] 2:5 Bochim means weepers [2] 3:16 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [3] 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain (ESV) New Testament: John 13:1–30 John 13:1–30 (Listen) Jesus Washes the Disciples' Feet 13 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet,1 but is completely clean. And you2 are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant3 is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled,4 ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.' 19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” One of You Will Betray Me 21 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus' side,5 24 so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus6 of whom he was speaking. 25 So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” 28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. Footnotes [1] 13:10 Some manuscripts omit except for his feet [2] 13:10 The Greek words for you in this verse are plural [3] 13:16 Or bondservant, or slave (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface) [4] 13:18 Greek But in order that the Scripture may be fulfilled [5] 13:23 Greek in the bosom of Jesus [6] 13:24 Greek lacks Jesus (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 107:1–22 Psalm 107:1–22 (Listen) Book Five Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So 107   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,    for his steadfast love endures forever!2   Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,    whom he has redeemed from trouble13   and gathered in from the lands,    from the east and from the west,    from the north and from the south. 4   Some wandered in desert wastes,    finding no way to a city to dwell in;5   hungry and thirsty,    their soul fainted within them.6   Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,    and he delivered them from their distress.7   He led them by a straight way    till they reached a city to dwell in.8   Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,    for his wondrous works to the children of man!9   For he satisfies the longing soul,    and the hungry soul he fills with good things. 10   Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,    prisoners in affliction and in irons,11   for they had rebelled against the words of God,    and spurned the counsel of the Most High.12   So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;    they fell down, with none to help.13   Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,    and he delivered them from their distress.14   He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,    and burst their bonds apart.15   Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,    for his wondrous works to the children of man!16   For he shatters the doors of bronze    and cuts in two the bars of iron. 17   Some were fools through their sinful ways,    and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;18   they loathed any kind of food,    and they drew near to the gates of death.19   Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,    and he delivered them from their distress.20   He sent out his word and healed them,    and delivered them from their destruction.21   Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,    for his wondrous works to the children of man!22   And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,    and tell of his deeds in songs of joy! Footnotes [1] 107:2 Or from the hand of the foe (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 14:30–31 Proverbs 14:30–31 (Listen) 30   A tranquil1 heart gives life to the flesh,    but envy2 makes the bones rot.31   Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker,    but he who is generous to the needy honors him. Footnotes [1] 14:30 Or healing [2] 14:30 Or jealousy (ESV)

If you were born anytime after, say, 1974, you probably associate Lebanon and its capital city of Beirut with political strife, violence, and bombed-out buildings. But this beautiful, misunderstood country is far more than its troubled past. Lebanon is a tiny nation on the eastern side of the Mediterranean. Its capital city of Beirut was once known as the Paris of the East, a holiday getaway for movie stars, moguls, and spies. Lebanon's coast is still a dreamy beach destination with long stretches of sand — or dramatic rock formations — lined with palm trees on one side and perfect turquoise-blue water on the other. The name Lebanon comes from the Semitic word lbn in reference to the snow-kissed Mount Lebanon range. The interior's rugged mountains are great for winter skiing and hiking among the fragrant cedar trees during the warmer months. You can also visit wineries, explore ancient ruins, dance the dabka, and eat delicious things like hummus, kibbeh, kofta, tabbouleh, and baklava — a.k.a. some of Mel's favorite food in the world. In this episode, we briefly walk through the long history of Lebanon, delve into amazing stories of sibling rivalry and bank robbery, and Mel shares the story of her Lebanese great-grandmother. Then we recommend great books that took us to Lebanon on the page. Here are the books about Lebanon we recommend on the show: House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East by Anthony Shadid Between Beirut and the Moon by A. Naji Bakhti The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine The Slow Road to Tehran: A Revelatory Bike Ride through Europe and the Middle East by Rebecca Lowe Rose Water and Orange Blossoms: Fresh & Classic Recipes from my Lebanese Kitchen by Maureen Abood For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit our show notes. Transcript of Lebanon: WORDS. Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon! Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This Sarde is brought to you by our incredible patrons at www.patreon.com/sardeafterdinner. Without you guys, there is no Sarde (after dinner). Thank you.   What really happened in the 1860 Mount Lebanon conflict between the Druze and the Maronites? How does it tie into the 15-year civil war(s)? Lebanese lecturer and researcher Makram Rabah joins us to demystify one of the most obscure periods in Lebanon's history, reveals the context of these conflicts and provides insight on the current geopolitical political dynamics of the region. In this #sardeafterdinner, we discuss:    -Weaponizing collective memory -The roots of the Lebanese Druze and Maronites -The Mount Lebanon Conflicts  -Deconstructing the narrative surrounding Bachir Gemayel & Kamal Joumblatt  -The Iran-KSA deal in Beijing & Walid Joumblatt  -How silence over political violence encourages impunity                           __________________   ما حصل فعلًا خلال النزاع على جبل لبنان في 1860 بين الدروز والموارنة؟ وما علاقة ذلك بالحرب (أو الحروب) الأهلية في لبنان عام 1975-1990؟ ينضم إلينا المحاضر اللبناني والباحث مكرم رباح حيث يقوم بإزالة الغموض حول هذه الفترة من تاريخ لبنان والكشف عن سياق تلك النزاعات وتسليط الضوء على التغيرات الجيوسياسية في المنطقة. في هذه الحلقة من #سردة، نتحدث عن:    -تسليح الذاكرة الجماعية اللبنانية -جذور الدروز والموارنة في لبنان  -النزاعات على جبل لبنان -تفكيك السرديات حول بشير جميل وكمال جنبلاط -الاتفاق الإيراني-السعودي في بكين ووليد جنبلاط -السكوت عن العنف السياسي يخدم ثقافة الإفلات من العقاب     Sarde (noun), [Sa-r-de]: A colloquial term used in the Middle East to describe the act of letting go & kicking off a stream of consciousness and a rambling narrative. The Sarde After Dinner Podcast is a free space based out of the heart of Beirut, Lebanon, where Médéa Azouri & Mouin Jaber discuss a wide range of topics (usually) held behind closed doors in an open and simple way with guests from all walks of life.   سردة (إسم) سَرْدَةْ : مصطلح بالعامية يستخدم في منطقة الشرق الأوسط للدلالة على الاسترخاء وإطلاق سردية. يشكّل بودكاست سردة بعد العشاء مساحة حرّة من قلب بيروت، لبنان، حيث تناقش ميديا عازوري ومعين جابر عدّة مواضيع (لطالما) تمّت مناقشتها خلف أبواب مغلقة وذلك بطريقة بسيطة ومباشرة مع ضيوف من شتّى المجالات.   SARDE EVERY SUNDAY with NEW EPISODES released WEEKLY! 9:00 PM

Morning: Judges 3–5 Judges 3–5 (Listen) 3 Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods. Othniel 7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. Ehud 12 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. 14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit1 in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. 20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch2 and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them. 24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” 25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor. 26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years. Shamgar 31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel. Deborah and Barak 4 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died. 2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years. 4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7 And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand'?” 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him. 11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh. 12 When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the LORD go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15 And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left. 17 But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?' say, ‘No.'” 21 But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. 22 And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple. 23 So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24 And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. The Song of Deborah and Barak 5 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day: 2   “That the leaders took the lead in Israel,    that the people offered themselves willingly,    bless the LORD! 3   “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;    to the LORD I will sing;    I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel. 4   “LORD, when you went out from Seir,    when you marched from the region of Edom,  the earth trembled    and the heavens dropped,    yes, the clouds dropped water.5   The mountains quaked before the LORD,    even Sinai before the LORD,3 the God of Israel. 6   “In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,    in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned,    and travelers kept to the byways.7   The villagers ceased in Israel;    they ceased to be until I arose;    I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.8   When new gods were chosen,    then war was in the gates.  Was shield or spear to be seen    among forty thousand in Israel?9   My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel    who offered themselves willingly among the people.    Bless the LORD. 10   “Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,    you who sit on rich carpets4    and you who walk by the way.11   To the sound of musicians5 at the watering places,    there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the LORD,    the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.   “Then down to the gates marched the people of the LORD. 12   “Awake, awake, Deborah!    Awake, awake, break out in a song!  Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,    O son of Abinoam.13   Then down marched the remnant of the noble;    the people of the LORD marched down for me against the mighty.14   From Ephraim their root they marched down into the valley,6    following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;  from Machir marched down the commanders,    and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant's7 staff;15   the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,    and Issachar faithful to Barak;    into the valley they rushed at his heels.  Among the clans of Reuben    there were great searchings of heart.16   Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds,    to hear the whistling for the flocks?  Among the clans of Reuben    there were great searchings of heart.17   Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;    and Dan, why did he stay with the ships?  Asher sat still at the coast of the sea,    staying by his landings.18   Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;    Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field. 19   “The kings came, they fought;    then fought the kings of Canaan,  at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo;    they got no spoils of silver.20   From heaven the stars fought,    from their courses they fought against Sisera.21   The torrent Kishon swept them away,    the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.    March on, my soul, with might! 22   “Then loud beat the horses' hoofs    with the galloping, galloping of his steeds. 23   “Curse Meroz, says the angel of the LORD,    curse its inhabitants thoroughly,  because they did not come to the help of the LORD,    to the help of the LORD against the mighty. 24   “Most blessed of women be Jael,    the wife of Heber the Kenite,    of tent-dwelling women most blessed.25   He asked for water and she gave him milk;    she brought him curds in a noble's bowl.26   She sent her hand to the tent peg    and her right hand to the workmen's mallet;  she struck Sisera;    she crushed his head;    she shattered and pierced his temple.27   Between her feet    he sank, he fell, he lay still;  between her feet    he sank, he fell;  where he sank,    there he fell—dead. 28   “Out of the window she peered,    the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice:  ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?    Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?'29   Her wisest princesses answer,    indeed, she answers herself,30   ‘Have they not found and divided the spoil?—    A womb or two for every man;  spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,    spoil of dyed materials embroidered,    two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?' 31   “So may all your enemies perish, O LORD!    But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.” And the land had rest for forty years. Footnotes [1] 3:16 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [2] 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [3] 5:5 Or before the Lord, the One of Sinai, before the Lord [4] 5:10 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; it may connote saddle blankets [5] 5:11 Or archers; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [6] 5:14 Septuagint; Hebrew in Amalek [7] 5:14 Hebrew commander's (ESV) Evening: Luke 7:31–50 Luke 7:31–50 (Listen) 31 “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,   “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;    we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.' 33 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.' 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' 35 Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.” A Sinful Woman Forgiven 36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among1 themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Footnotes [1] 7:49 Or to (ESV)

The Lebanon Police Department is hiring. In Episode 111 of the #LovinLebanon Podcast we take a closer look into the process with Major Rich Mount. Major Mount details the hiring effort, what being with LPD for almost 30 years has meant to him…and of course we had to talk basketball as well. Scan the QR code below, or click here to learn more about LPD. https://lebanon.in.gov/lpd-employment/

Judges 3–5 Judges 3–5 (Listen) 3 Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods. Othniel 7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. Ehud 12 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. 14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit1 in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. 20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch2 and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them. 24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” 25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor. 26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years. Shamgar 31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel. Deborah and Barak 4 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died. 2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years. 4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7 And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand'?” 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him. 11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh. 12 When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the LORD go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15 And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left. 17 But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?' say, ‘No.'” 21 But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. 22 And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple. 23 So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24 And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. The Song of Deborah and Barak 5 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day: 2   “That the leaders took the lead in Israel,    that the people offered themselves willingly,    bless the LORD! 3   “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;    to the LORD I will sing;    I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel. 4   “LORD, when you went out from Seir,    when you marched from the region of Edom,  the earth trembled    and the heavens dropped,    yes, the clouds dropped water.5   The mountains quaked before the LORD,    even Sinai before the LORD,3 the God of Israel. 6   “In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,    in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned,    and travelers kept to the byways.7   The villagers ceased in Israel;    they ceased to be until I arose;    I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.8   When new gods were chosen,    then war was in the gates.  Was shield or spear to be seen    among forty thousand in Israel?9   My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel    who offered themselves willingly among the people.    Bless the LORD. 10   “Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,    you who sit on rich carpets4    and you who walk by the way.11   To the sound of musicians5 at the watering places,    there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the LORD,    the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.   “Then down to the gates marched the people of the LORD. 12   “Awake, awake, Deborah!    Awake, awake, break out in a song!  Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,    O son of Abinoam.13   Then down marched the remnant of the noble;    the people of the LORD marched down for me against the mighty.14   From Ephraim their root they marched down into the valley,6    following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;  from Machir marched down the commanders,    and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant's7 staff;15   the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,    and Issachar faithful to Barak;    into the valley they rushed at his heels.  Among the clans of Reuben    there were great searchings of heart.16   Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds,    to hear the whistling for the flocks?  Among the clans of Reuben    there were great searchings of heart.17   Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;    and Dan, why did he stay with the ships?  Asher sat still at the coast of the sea,    staying by his landings.18   Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;    Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field. 19   “The kings came, they fought;    then fought the kings of Canaan,  at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo;    they got no spoils of silver.20   From heaven the stars fought,    from their courses they fought against Sisera.21   The torrent Kishon swept them away,    the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.    March on, my soul, with might! 22   “Then loud beat the horses' hoofs    with the galloping, galloping of his steeds. 23   “Curse Meroz, says the angel of the LORD,    curse its inhabitants thoroughly,  because they did not come to the help of the LORD,    to the help of the LORD against the mighty. 24   “Most blessed of women be Jael,    the wife of Heber the Kenite,    of tent-dwelling women most blessed.25   He asked for water and she gave him milk;    she brought him curds in a noble's bowl.26   She sent her hand to the tent peg    and her right hand to the workmen's mallet;  she struck Sisera;    she crushed his head;    she shattered and pierced his temple.27   Between her feet    he sank, he fell, he lay still;  between her feet    he sank, he fell;  where he sank,    there he fell—dead. 28   “Out of the window she peered,    the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice:  ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?    Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?'29   Her wisest princesses answer,    indeed, she answers herself,30   ‘Have they not found and divided the spoil?—    A womb or two for every man;  spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,    spoil of dyed materials embroidered,    two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?' 31   “So may all your enemies perish, O LORD!    But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.” And the land had rest for forty years. Footnotes [1] 3:16 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [2] 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [3] 5:5 Or before the Lord, the One of Sinai, before the Lord [4] 5:10 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; it may connote saddle blankets [5] 5:11 Or archers; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [6] 5:14 Septuagint; Hebrew in Amalek [7] 5:14 Hebrew commander's (ESV)

Judges 3–5 Judges 3–5 (Listen) 3 Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods. Othniel 7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. Ehud 12 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. 14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit1 in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. 20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch2 and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them. 24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” 25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor. 26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years. Shamgar 31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel. Deborah and Barak 4 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died. 2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years. 4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7 And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand'?” 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him. 11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh. 12 When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the LORD go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15 And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left. 17 But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?' say, ‘No.'” 21 But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. 22 And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple. 23 So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24 And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. The Song of Deborah and Barak 5 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day: 2   “That the leaders took the lead in Israel,    that the people offered themselves willingly,    bless the LORD! 3   “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;    to the LORD I will sing;    I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel. 4   “LORD, when you went out from Seir,    when you marched from the region of Edom,  the earth trembled    and the heavens dropped,    yes, the clouds dropped water.5   The mountains quaked before the LORD,    even Sinai before the LORD,3 the God of Israel. 6   “In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,    in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned,    and travelers kept to the byways.7   The villagers ceased in Israel;    they ceased to be until I arose;    I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.8   When new gods were chosen,    then war was in the gates.  Was shield or spear to be seen    among forty thousand in Israel?9   My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel    who offered themselves willingly among the people.    Bless the LORD. 10   “Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,    you who sit on rich carpets4    and you who walk by the way.11   To the sound of musicians5 at the watering places,    there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the LORD,    the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.   “Then down to the gates marched the people of the LORD. 12   “Awake, awake, Deborah!    Awake, awake, break out in a song!  Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,    O son of Abinoam.13   Then down marched the remnant of the noble;    the people of the LORD marched down for me against the mighty.14   From Ephraim their root they marched down into the valley,6    following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;  from Machir marched down the commanders,    and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant's7 staff;15   the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,    and Issachar faithful to Barak;    into the valley they rushed at his heels.  Among the clans of Reuben    there were great searchings of heart.16   Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds,    to hear the whistling for the flocks?  Among the clans of Reuben    there were great searchings of heart.17   Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;    and Dan, why did he stay with the ships?  Asher sat still at the coast of the sea,    staying by his landings.18   Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;    Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field. 19   “The kings came, they fought;    then fought the kings of Canaan,  at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo;    they got no spoils of silver.20   From heaven the stars fought,    from their courses they fought against Sisera.21   The torrent Kishon swept them away,    the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.    March on, my soul, with might! 22   “Then loud beat the horses' hoofs    with the galloping, galloping of his steeds. 23   “Curse Meroz, says the angel of the LORD,    curse its inhabitants thoroughly,  because they did not come to the help of the LORD,    to the help of the LORD against the mighty. 24   “Most blessed of women be Jael,    the wife of Heber the Kenite,    of tent-dwelling women most blessed.25   He asked for water and she gave him milk;    she brought him curds in a noble's bowl.26   She sent her hand to the tent peg    and her right hand to the workmen's mallet;  she struck Sisera;    she crushed his head;    she shattered and pierced his temple.27   Between her feet    he sank, he fell, he lay still;  between her feet    he sank, he fell;  where he sank,    there he fell—dead. 28   “Out of the window she peered,    the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice:  ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?    Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?'29   Her wisest princesses answer,    indeed, she answers herself,30   ‘Have they not found and divided the spoil?—    A womb or two for every man;  spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,    spoil of dyed materials embroidered,    two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?' 31   “So may all your enemies perish, O LORD!    But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.” And the land had rest for forty years. Footnotes [1] 3:16 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [2] 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [3] 5:5 Or before the Lord, the One of Sinai, before the Lord [4] 5:10 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; it may connote saddle blankets [5] 5:11 Or archers; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [6] 5:14 Septuagint; Hebrew in Amalek [7] 5:14 Hebrew commander's (ESV)

Align Your Faith & Investments - Chris McMahon, President, and CEO of Aquinas Wealth Advisors with $500M AUM. For over 30 years Chris has advised his clients in the areas of comprehensive financial planning, asset allocation, retirement planning and estate tax management techniques. Chris is an industry resource serving as a consultant and advisor to a multitude of industry professionals, giving clarity in the areas of practice management, client care and comprehensive financial planning. Chris graduated from Duquesne University in 1986 with a BA in economics. He also earned the ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant) designation from the American College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in May of 1990. In January of 2005, Chris earned the AWMA (Accredited Wealth Management Advisor) designation through the College for Financial Planning in Denver Colorado. Chris is very involved in his community; he has served as the president of the Duquesne University Alumni Board, the president of St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church Parish Council, a board member of Oakland Catholic High School, a member of Mt Lebanon municipal Pension Board, and a board member of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Pittsburgh. Currently, Chris is a member of both the Duquesne University Board of Trustees and Investment Committee. He is also a committee member of the Little Sisters of the Poor, a board member of Mary's Place Pittsburgh, a board member of Legatus International. Chris also remains active in youth sports in the Mount Lebanon area. Chris and his wife Molly have been married for 25 years and have five children, Kate, Will, Jack, Hugh, and Emma. Website: https://aquinaswealth.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/smartmoneycircle/support

Persecution of Christians in the Middle East has been a recurring theme since the middle of the nineteenth century. The topic has experienced a resurgence in the last few years, especially during the Trump era. Middle Eastern Christians are often portrayed as a homogeneous, helpless group ever at the mercy of their Muslim enemies, a situation that only Western powers can remedy.  The Politics of Persecution: Middle Eastern Christians in an Age of Empire (Baylor UP, 2021) revisits this narrative with a critical eye. Mitri Raheb charts the plight of Christians in the Middle East from the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 to the so-called Arab Spring. The book analyzes the diverse socioeconomic and political factors that led to the diminishing role and numbers of Christians in Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan during the eras of Ottoman, French, and British Empires, through the eras of independence, Pan-Arabism, and Pan-Islamism, and into the current era of American empire. With an incisive exposé of the politics that lie behind alleged concerns for these persecuted Christians--and how the concept of persecution has been a tool of public diplomacy and international politics--Raheb reveals that Middle Eastern Christians have been repeatedly sacrificed on the altar of Western national interests. The West has been part of the problem for Middle Eastern Christianity and not part of the solution, from the massacre on Mount Lebanon to the rise of ISIS.  The Politics of Persecution, written by a well-known Palestinian Christian theologian, provides an insider perspective on this contested region. Middle Eastern Christians survived successive empires by developing great elasticity in adjusting to changing contexts; they learned how to survive atrocities and how to resist creatively while maintaining a dynamic identity. In this light, Raheb casts the history of Middle Eastern Christians not so much as one of persecution but as one of resilience. Byung Ho Choi is a Ph.D. candidate in the History and Ecumenics program at Princeton Theological Seminary, concentrating in World Christianity and history of religions. His research focuses on the indigenous expressions of Christianities found in Southeast Asia, particularly Christianity that is practiced in the Muslim-dominant archipelagic nation of Indonesia. More broadly, he is interested in history and the anthropology of Christianity, complexities of religious conversion and social identity, inter-religious dialogue, ecumenism, and World Christianity. Tala Raheb is a doctoral candidate in Asian, African, and Middle Eastern Religions (AAMER) at Emory University. Her dissertation examines how Palestinian American Christians interact with Christian Zionism at the intersection of American religion and politics. In addition to her work in AAMER, Tala is pursuing a concentration in World Christianity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Persecution of Christians in the Middle East has been a recurring theme since the middle of the nineteenth century. The topic has experienced a resurgence in the last few years, especially during the Trump era. Middle Eastern Christians are often portrayed as a homogeneous, helpless group ever at the mercy of their Muslim enemies, a situation that only Western powers can remedy.  The Politics of Persecution: Middle Eastern Christians in an Age of Empire (Baylor UP, 2021) revisits this narrative with a critical eye. Mitri Raheb charts the plight of Christians in the Middle East from the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 to the so-called Arab Spring. The book analyzes the diverse socioeconomic and political factors that led to the diminishing role and numbers of Christians in Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan during the eras of Ottoman, French, and British Empires, through the eras of independence, Pan-Arabism, and Pan-Islamism, and into the current era of American empire. With an incisive exposé of the politics that lie behind alleged concerns for these persecuted Christians--and how the concept of persecution has been a tool of public diplomacy and international politics--Raheb reveals that Middle Eastern Christians have been repeatedly sacrificed on the altar of Western national interests. The West has been part of the problem for Middle Eastern Christianity and not part of the solution, from the massacre on Mount Lebanon to the rise of ISIS.  The Politics of Persecution, written by a well-known Palestinian Christian theologian, provides an insider perspective on this contested region. Middle Eastern Christians survived successive empires by developing great elasticity in adjusting to changing contexts; they learned how to survive atrocities and how to resist creatively while maintaining a dynamic identity. In this light, Raheb casts the history of Middle Eastern Christians not so much as one of persecution but as one of resilience. Byung Ho Choi is a Ph.D. candidate in the History and Ecumenics program at Princeton Theological Seminary, concentrating in World Christianity and history of religions. His research focuses on the indigenous expressions of Christianities found in Southeast Asia, particularly Christianity that is practiced in the Muslim-dominant archipelagic nation of Indonesia. More broadly, he is interested in history and the anthropology of Christianity, complexities of religious conversion and social identity, inter-religious dialogue, ecumenism, and World Christianity. Tala Raheb is a doctoral candidate in Asian, African, and Middle Eastern Religions (AAMER) at Emory University. Her dissertation examines how Palestinian American Christians interact with Christian Zionism at the intersection of American religion and politics. In addition to her work in AAMER, Tala is pursuing a concentration in World Christianity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Persecution of Christians in the Middle East has been a recurring theme since the middle of the nineteenth century. The topic has experienced a resurgence in the last few years, especially during the Trump era. Middle Eastern Christians are often portrayed as a homogeneous, helpless group ever at the mercy of their Muslim enemies, a situation that only Western powers can remedy.  The Politics of Persecution: Middle Eastern Christians in an Age of Empire (Baylor UP, 2021) revisits this narrative with a critical eye. Mitri Raheb charts the plight of Christians in the Middle East from the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 to the so-called Arab Spring. The book analyzes the diverse socioeconomic and political factors that led to the diminishing role and numbers of Christians in Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan during the eras of Ottoman, French, and British Empires, through the eras of independence, Pan-Arabism, and Pan-Islamism, and into the current era of American empire. With an incisive exposé of the politics that lie behind alleged concerns for these persecuted Christians--and how the concept of persecution has been a tool of public diplomacy and international politics--Raheb reveals that Middle Eastern Christians have been repeatedly sacrificed on the altar of Western national interests. The West has been part of the problem for Middle Eastern Christianity and not part of the solution, from the massacre on Mount Lebanon to the rise of ISIS.  The Politics of Persecution, written by a well-known Palestinian Christian theologian, provides an insider perspective on this contested region. Middle Eastern Christians survived successive empires by developing great elasticity in adjusting to changing contexts; they learned how to survive atrocities and how to resist creatively while maintaining a dynamic identity. In this light, Raheb casts the history of Middle Eastern Christians not so much as one of persecution but as one of resilience. Byung Ho Choi is a Ph.D. candidate in the History and Ecumenics program at Princeton Theological Seminary, concentrating in World Christianity and history of religions. His research focuses on the indigenous expressions of Christianities found in Southeast Asia, particularly Christianity that is practiced in the Muslim-dominant archipelagic nation of Indonesia. More broadly, he is interested in history and the anthropology of Christianity, complexities of religious conversion and social identity, inter-religious dialogue, ecumenism, and World Christianity. Tala Raheb is a doctoral candidate in Asian, African, and Middle Eastern Religions (AAMER) at Emory University. Her dissertation examines how Palestinian American Christians interact with Christian Zionism at the intersection of American religion and politics. In addition to her work in AAMER, Tala is pursuing a concentration in World Christianity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

In 1860, two communities in Mount Lebanon - who had coexisted for centuries - found themselves barreling toward a head on collision. With a clarity afforded by almost two centuries of hindsight, this episode explores the many ways in which this head-on clash was manufactured in the capitals of Europe.This two part episode explores how this watershed moment in the history of the region gave rise to new ways of thinking about who the people of the region truly are.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/preoccupation-a-not-so-brief-history-of-palestine/donations

Psalms and Wisdom: Song of Solomon 2:8–17 Song of Solomon 2:8–17 (Listen) The Bride Adores Her Beloved 8   The voice of my beloved!    Behold, he comes,  leaping over the mountains,    bounding over the hills.9   My beloved is like a gazelle    or a young stag.  Behold, there he stands    behind our wall,  gazing through the windows,    looking through the lattice.10   My beloved speaks and says to me:  “Arise, my love, my beautiful one,    and come away,11   for behold, the winter is past;    the rain is over and gone.12   The flowers appear on the earth,    the time of singing1 has come,  and the voice of the turtledove    is heard in our land.13   The fig tree ripens its figs,    and the vines are in blossom;    they give forth fragrance.  Arise, my love, my beautiful one,    and come away.14   O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,    in the crannies of the cliff,  let me see your face,    let me hear your voice,  for your voice is sweet,    and your face is lovely.15   Catch the foxes2 for us,    the little foxes  that spoil the vineyards,    for our vineyards are in blossom.” 16   My beloved is mine, and I am his;    he grazes3 among the lilies.17   Until the day breathes    and the shadows flee,  turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle    or a young stag on cleft mountains.4 Footnotes [1] 2:12 Or pruning [2] 2:15 Or jackals [3] 2:16 Or he pastures his flock [4] 2:17 Or mountains of Bether (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Judges 2–3:6 Judges 2–3:6 (Listen) Israel's Disobedience 2 Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? 3 So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” 4 As soon as the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 And they called the name of that place Bochim.1 And they sacrificed there to the LORD. The Death of Joshua 6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. 7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years. 9 And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel. Israel's Unfaithfulness 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. 13 They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. The Lord Raises Up Judges 16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so. 18 Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. 20 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, 22 in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not.” 23 So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua. 3 Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods. Footnotes [1] 2:5 Bochim means weepers (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jeremiah 18 Jeremiah 18 (Listen) The Potter and the Clay 18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear1 my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.' 12 “But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.' 13   “Therefore thus says the LORD:  Ask among the nations,    Who has heard the like of this?  The virgin Israel    has done a very horrible thing.14   Does the snow of Lebanon leave    the crags of Sirion?2  Do the mountain waters run dry,3    the cold flowing streams?15   But my people have forgotten me;    they make offerings to false gods;  they made them stumble in their ways,    in the ancient roads,  and to walk into side roads,    not the highway,16   making their land a horror,    a thing to be hissed at forever.  Everyone who passes by it is horrified    and shakes his head.17   Like the east wind I will scatter them    before the enemy.  I will show them my back, not my face,    in the day of their calamity.” 18 Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.” 19   Hear me, O LORD,    and listen to the voice of my adversaries.20   Should good be repaid with evil?    Yet they have dug a pit for my life.  Remember how I stood before you    to speak good for them,    to turn away your wrath from them.21   Therefore deliver up their children to famine;    give them over to the power of the sword;  let their wives become childless and widowed.    May their men meet death by pestilence,    their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.22   May a cry be heard from their houses,    when you bring the plunderer suddenly upon them!  For they have dug a pit to take me    and laid snares for my feet.23   Yet you, O LORD, know    all their plotting to kill me.  Forgive not their iniquity,    nor blot out their sin from your sight.  Let them be overthrown before you;    deal with them in the time of your anger. Footnotes [1] 18:2 Or will cause you to hear [2] 18:14 Hebrew of the field [3] 18:14 Hebrew Are foreign waters plucked up (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Hebrews 1 Hebrews 1 (Listen) The Supremacy of God's Son 1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,   “You are my Son,    today I have begotten you”? Or again,   “I will be to him a father,    and he shall be to me a son”? 6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,   “Let all God's angels worship him.” 7 Of the angels he says,   “He makes his angels winds,    and his ministers a flame of fire.” 8 But of the Son he says,   “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,    the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.9   You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;  therefore God, your God, has anointed you    with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” 10 And,   “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,    and the heavens are the work of your hands;11   they will perish, but you remain;    they will all wear out like a garment,12   like a robe you will roll them up,    like a garment they will be changed.1  But you are the same,    and your years will have no end.” 13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,   “Sit at my right hand    until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Footnotes [1] 1:12 Some manuscripts omit like a garment (ESV)

With family: Judges 3; Acts 7 Judges 3 (Listen) 3 Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods. Othniel 7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. Ehud 12 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. 14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit1 in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. 20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch2 and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them. 24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” 25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor. 26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years. Shamgar 31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel. Footnotes [1] 3:16 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [2] 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain (ESV) Acts 7 (Listen) Stephen's Speech 7 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.' 4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. 7 ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,' said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.' 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. 9 “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. 14 And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. 15 And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, 16 and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. 17 “But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. 19 He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. 20 At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, 21 and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. 23 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?' 27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' 29 At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. 30 “Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.' And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.' 35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?'—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.' 38 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' 41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:   “‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,    during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?43   You took up the tent of Moloch    and the star of your god Rephan,    the images that you made to worship;  and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.' 44 “Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.1 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, 49   “‘Heaven is my throne,    and the earth is my footstool.  What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,    or what is the place of my rest?50   Did not my hand make all these things?' 51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” The Stoning of Stephen 54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together2 at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Footnotes [1] 7:46 Some manuscripts for the house of Jacob [2] 7:57 Or rushed with one mind (ESV) In private: Jeremiah 16; Mark 2 Jeremiah 16 (Listen) Famine, Sword, and Death 16 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. 3 For thus says the LORD concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land: 4 They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth. 5 “For thus says the LORD: Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament or grieve for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, my steadfast love and mercy, declares the LORD. 6 Both great and small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or cut himself or make himself bald for them. 7 No one shall break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead, nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother. 8 You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. 9 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will silence in this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. 10 “And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?' 11 then you shall say to them: ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the LORD, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, 12 and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. 13 Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.' The Lord Will Restore Israel 14 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 15 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers. 16 “Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the LORD, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. 17 For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. 18 But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.” 19   O LORD, my strength and my stronghold,    my refuge in the day of trouble,  to you shall the nations come    from the ends of the earth and say:  “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies,    worthless things in which there is no profit.20   Can man make for himself gods?    Such are not gods!” 21 “Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the LORD.” (ESV) Mark 2 (Listen) Jesus Heals a Paralytic 2 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk'? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” Jesus Calls Levi 13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of1 the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat2 with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” A Question About Fasting 18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”3 Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath 23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of4 Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” Footnotes [1] 2:16 Some manuscripts and [2] 2:16 Some manuscripts add and drink [3] 2:22 Some manuscripts omit But new wine is for fresh wineskins [4] 2:26 Or in the passage about (ESV)

Old Testament: Judges 2–3 Judges 2–3 (Listen) Israel's Disobedience 2 Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? 3 So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” 4 As soon as the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 And they called the name of that place Bochim.1 And they sacrificed there to the LORD. The Death of Joshua 6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. 7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years. 9 And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel. Israel's Unfaithfulness 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. 13 They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. The Lord Raises Up Judges 16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so. 18 Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. 20 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, 22 in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not.” 23 So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua. 3 Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods. Othniel 7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. Ehud 12 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. 14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit2 in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. 20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch3 and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them. 24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” 25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor. 26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years. Shamgar 31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel. Footnotes [1] 2:5 Bochim means weepers [2] 3:16 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [3] 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 107:1–22 Psalm 107:1–22 (Listen) Book Five Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So 107   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,    for his steadfast love endures forever!2   Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,    whom he has redeemed from trouble13   and gathered in from the lands,    from the east and from the west,    from the north and from the south. 4   Some wandered in desert wastes,    finding no way to a city to dwell in;5   hungry and thirsty,    their soul fainted within them.6   Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,    and he delivered them from their distress.7   He led them by a straight way    till they reached a city to dwell in.8   Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,    for his wondrous works to the children of man!9   For he satisfies the longing soul,    and the hungry soul he fills with good things. 10   Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,    prisoners in affliction and in irons,11   for they had rebelled against the words of God,    and spurned the counsel of the Most High.12   So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;    they fell down, with none to help.13   Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,    and he delivered them from their distress.14   He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,    and burst their bonds apart.15   Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,    for his wondrous works to the children of man!16   For he shatters the doors of bronze    and cuts in two the bars of iron. 17   Some were fools through their sinful ways,    and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;18   they loathed any kind of food,    and they drew near to the gates of death.19   Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,    and he delivered them from their distress.20   He sent out his word and healed them,    and delivered them from their destruction.21   Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,    for his wondrous works to the children of man!22   And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,    and tell of his deeds in songs of joy! Footnotes [1] 107:2 Or from the hand of the foe (ESV) New Testament: Romans 8 Romans 8 (Listen) Life in the Spirit 8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.1 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you2 free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,3 he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus4 from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. Heirs with Christ 12 So then, brothers,5 we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons6 of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Future Glory 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because7 the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,8 for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. God's Everlasting Love 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be9 against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.10 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,   “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Footnotes [1] 8:1 Some manuscripts add who walk not according to the flesh (but according to the Spirit) [2] 8:2 Some manuscripts me [3] 8:3 Or and as a sin offering [4] 8:11 Some manuscripts lack Jesus [5] 8:12 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 29 [6] 8:14 See discussion on “sons” in the Preface [7] 8:27 Or that [8] 8:28 Some manuscripts God works all things together for good, or God works in all things for the good [9] 8:31 Or who is [10] 8:34 Or Is it Christ Jesus who died . . . for us? (ESV)